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DELPHI, Ind. — Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen is back in court
Monday, March 18 in Fort Wayne for two hearings in the case.

Special judge Frances Gull has ruled on a few big decisions that will
decide how the rest of the case moves forward. Allen is accused of killing Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, in February 2017.

On Jan. 18, the same day the Indiana Supreme Court reinstated Allen's
original attorneys, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland filed a
request to amend the charges to also include:

Two counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping (previously filed Oct. 28, 2022)
Two counts of murder
Two counts of kidnapping
During Monday's first hearing, Gull approved both counts of murder, but
the judge dismissed both counts of kidnapping. According to legal expert
Katie Jackson-Lindsay, the new charges give the prosecutor another avenue
to convict Allen without having to prove he's the one who actually killed
the girls.

THREAD: 13News' Bob Segall recaps Monday's hearing

McLeland agreed to abandon the request for the kidnapping charges,
conceding that the charge falls outside the five-year statute of
limitations.

The prosecutor previously said the added charges "more accurately aligns
the charging information with the cause's discovery and the probable cause affidavit."

In regards to the change of venue motion, Gull ruled that all future
hearings will take place in Carroll County.

During Monday's first hearing, Gull also responded to the defense's motion
to recuse the judge, which she denied.

The second hearing to discuss accusations of contempt against Allen's attorneys, Andrew Baldwin and Bradley Rozzi, started right after the first hearing ended. Gull denied the defense's request for a continuance in the contempt hearing.

McLeland argues the attorneys should be held in contempt of court for what
he calls a "trend" of "not being completely honest with the court." The prosecutor said the attorneys violated the gag order in the case by
issuing a press release on Dec. 1, 2022, proclaiming Allen's innocence. McLeland also points to information, including crime scene photos, leaked
to the public through Baldwin's office.

Court transcripts indicate Gull previously accused Allen's attorneys of
"gross negligence" in the case prior to their removal and the state
supreme court's later reinstatement of them.

The attorneys have asked several times in recent weeks for the contempt
hearing to be delayed.

The final issue of the day was a motion by the defense to dismiss the
charges against Allen because of video evidence that was destroyed by the state, interviews the defense believes could have helped prove Allen's innocence and pointed to the alleged real killers.

The state testified that interviews recorded via DVR at the Delphi Police Department in the first six days after the girls' bodies were discovered somehow got erased because the DVR's settings got changed, possibly
because of a power surge or someone accidently unplugging it.

According to testimony, videos also recorded in from April 28 to June 30
also got erased. In some cases, video was recovered but without sound.

The defense theorized that one of the people involved in the murders of
German and Williams was interviewed in that first week after the murders.

Gull did not make a decision on whether she would dismiss the charges
because those video interviews were destroyed.

When it comes to the contempt charges against the defense, they have one
week to file extra information. Then, the prosecution has a week to
respond. After that, Gull has 30 days to decide whether to hold the
defense in contempt. If she takes all 30 days, that will bring us to
within two weeks of Allen's trial date, currently set for mid-May.

The court denied multiple media requests for cameras in the courtroom
during the hearings.

After a request from Allen, the jury trial in the case is scheduled to
take place May 13-31. The trial was previously scheduled to begin Oct. 15.

13News has learned jury selection will begin on May 13 and take place at
the Allen County Courthouse. Once a jury from Allen County has been
selected, the trial will shift to Carroll County for opening arguments and continue there through the verdict.

Because Allen’s defense attorneys are public defenders paid for by Carroll County taxpayers, court rules require all defense expenses – such as
attorney fees, expert witness fees, investigation costs and travel costs –
to first be approved by Gull before they are paid by the county.

According to Derrick Mason, executive director of the Indiana Public
Defender Commission, Carroll County has a comprehensive plan that details
the defense expenses that are eligible for payment. That plan states, “an attorney appointed to provide representation may request ex parte
authorization from the judge hearing the case for expenditures for investigative services, expert witnesses, or other services necessary to provide adequate legal representation.”

The rules also say the judge is required to approve only those expenses
that are determined to be necessary and reasonable.

According to the defense team, Gull has approved much less than requested.

For example, the defense team claims the judge approved $6,262 for them to consult with a firearms expert and a digital forensic expert about Delphi
crime scene evidence, but they say the judge denied additional
consultations with those experts as “unsupported” expenses.

“This Court’s denial of funding ensures an unfair, inequitable trial,”
defense attorneys Brad Rozzi and Andrew Baldwin wrote in their “motion for parity in resources to reconsider the denial of anticipated defense costs
or to exclude evidence” filed on March 17.

The Indiana Public Defender Council says judges are permitted to deny
public defenders’ requests to fund expert witnesses, but those denials can create significant problems if they are not justified.

“If the defense counsel don’t have the tools that they need … they
effectively cannot defend Mr. Allen fairly without having those resources available,” said IPDC assistant executive director Michael Moore. “For a
judge to unilaterally decide those services are not needed, you don’t need these funds, is essentially creating a situation where there might be an
unfair trial and a conviction that’s questionable.”

Allen’s attorneys have indicated the judge wants them to pay for expert
witness expenses up front and that she will then review their
reimbursement requests to determine if they will be granted.

“Brad [Rozzi] and Andy [Baldwin] have paid out of their own pockets, but
it’s getting too much,” Hennessy told 13News. He said that is why they are
now seeking private donations through a public crowdsourcing campaign.

“It’s not a leveling the playing field issue. It’s a due process issue,”
said Kay Beehler, an attorney who has served as both a prosecutor and
public defender in Marion County. “You can’t prepare a murder trial with
one hand tied behind your back.”

Beehler said in more than 30 years of legal practice, she has never been
denied funding for an expert she requested to help defend a client.

Marion County has its own public defender office with its own public
defender budget, and that office makes its own decisions about what
expenses to fund. In most other Indiana counties – including Carroll
County – public defender expenses are handled much differently. Their
requests for funding to prepare for a defendant’s trial must be reviewed
and approved by the judge overseeing the case.

“Needing to seek funding from online fundraising really shows how messed
up the system is in Indiana,” Moore said. “The biggest problem is, in
Indiana there is no separation between the judiciary and public defenders.
If the defendant has to go to the person who’s going to be the neutral
arbiter in your case to say ‘I need money to go hire experts so I can
properly defend myself,’ and that person who is going to decide your fate
later on is also going to decide if the request you’re making is
reasonable or not, the judge is serving in a different role than what the
judge probably should be doing. It’s just a really unfair system.”

If public defenders believe they are being denied funding improperly, they
can file an appeal to the Indiana Court of Appeals to review the denial.
But that kind of appeal takes time.

“That would cause an 8-to-12-month delay, and Rick [Allen] can’t handle
that, so we’re just trying to get some experts as quickly as we can,”
Hennessy told 13News.

At 6 p.m., Tuesday, 188 anonymous donors had donated nearly $11,000 to
hire those experts.

https://www.wthr.com/article/news/crime/delphi-girls-murdered/monday- march-18-delphi-murders-trial-richard-allen/531-b25096a7-62a0-4596-99fb- 731a64f3dd61

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